A guessing game has begun in political circles: whether Pakistan and minorities figure in the election strategy of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi this time.
Mr Modi had won 2002 and 2007 Gujarat Assembly polls on the slogans like Miyan Musharaff, Ham Paanch, Hamare Pacchhis, saying that Pakistan will
celebrate Diwali and burst firecrackers if he is defeated in the electoral battle.
In the last Gujarat Assembly election, he gave a political spin to the Congress’ charge of Maut ka Saudagar in connection with the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
Sohrabuddin was killed in a staged shootout by crime branch police officers on November 26, 2005, while his wife, Kausarbi, was eliminated a few days later.
Mr Modi had won elections by coining slogans which can polarise people on communal lines and on Gujarat asmita (pride), charge his political opponents.
They say he cannot win elections on a positive agenda and Gujarat is perhaps the only state where elections are fought on international issues like relations with Pakistan.
But this time Mr Modi has decided to undertake the image building exercise after realising that his “Gujarat model” cannot make him acceptable at the national level.
And therefore, he is changing his style and language deliberately.
And another aspect behind this strategy is that he cannot confine to Gujarat-centric politics even if he retains power.
And that is the reason behind his Sadbhavana Mission, in which he has resolved to fast for three days from September 17 to strengthen Gujarat’s environment of peace, unity and harmony.
But outside the BJP, Mr Modi has never been seen as a potential prime ministerial material like late veterans Jyoti Basu or Ramkrishna Hegde.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Congress on Thursday ridiculed Mr Modi’s proposed fast for peace, harmony and unity in the state saying all he wants to do is to project himself as a “messiah” of the minorities.
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Cong ridicules gujarat CM’s proposed fast
Ahmedabad, Sept. 15: The Congress in Gujarat on Thursday ridiculed chief minister Narendra Modi’s proposed fast for peace, harmony and unity in the state.
To counter Mr Modi’s fast from September 17, Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela and GPCC president Arjun Modhvadia have announced a parallel fast at the same time.
“If there is a justifiable cause for fast by the chief minister, we can understand it. But he is saying that this fast is for sadbhavna. But his fast is based on farce, falsehood and corruption,” Mr Vaghela claimed. — PTI